It's very violent in parts, but the main theme of the movie is the ego, and conquering it.

At least that was my understanding of it; it's quite a weird movie.

PeaceFluke

-- PeaceFluke

Ho! ye who suffer! knowYe suffer from yourselves. None else compels, None other holds you that ye live and die,And whirl upon the wheel, and hug and kiss Its spokes of agony,Its tire of tears, its nave of nothingness.

++++++++++++++++This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

There is freedom from birth, freedom from becoming, freedom from making, freedom from conditioning. If there were not this freedom from birth, freedom from becoming, freedom from making, freedom from conditioning, then escape from that which is birth, becoming, making, conditioning, would not be known here. -- Ud 80

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

It's very violent in parts, but the main theme of the movie is the ego, and conquering it.

I got a one-off feel from "Revolver" - as though the exploration got close but was never quite on target. I earlier suggested that it took place in an Asuran realm, to account for the violence.

Probably this 'one-off' feeling is because movies with Kabbala themes seem to contain out-of-focus, Buddh-esque themes as a side effect, in my experience. "Bee Season" is one example, but I could mention "Pi", "The Fountain", & "Life of Pi" as well.

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]

tiltbillings wrote:You choose Last Samurai, but you do not understand Bee Season?

I own a copy of "Last Samurai" and have seen it many times. [ah, no suitable emoticon]

But what does "Bee Season" have to do with Buddhism? It has to do with some forms of theism for sure, notably Jewish and Hare Krishna theism. But I don't see the Buddhist connection or theme in it, other than in some meta sense in which pretty much any film can be viewed as Buddhist.

tiltbillings wrote:You choose Last Samurai, but you do not understand Bee Season?

I own a copy of "Last Samurai" and have seen it many times. [ah, no suitable emoticon]

But what does "Bee Season" have to do with Buddhism? It has to do with some forms of theism for sure, notably Jewish and Hare Krishna theism. But I don't see the Buddhist connection or theme in it, other than in some meta sense in which pretty much any film can be viewed as Buddhist.

As for Bee Season, a nice little film, I'll take "some meta sense" in Eliza's compassionate act for her family as having more to do with acting in accordance with Dhamma over Nathan's very directly -- hands on -- assisting with the self-killing of Katsumoto for Katsumoto's honor.

.

++++++++++++++++This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

There is freedom from birth, freedom from becoming, freedom from making, freedom from conditioning. If there were not this freedom from birth, freedom from becoming, freedom from making, freedom from conditioning, then escape from that which is birth, becoming, making, conditioning, would not be known here. -- Ud 80

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

tiltbillings wrote:As for Bee Season, a nice little film, I'll take "some meta sense" in Eliza's compassionate act for her family as having more to do with acting in accordance with Dhamma over Nathan's very directly -- hands on -- assisting with the self-killing of Katsumoto for Katsumoto's honor.

There's samurai culture and there's the Dhamma, and I'm not sure how much the two really have in common. There are some fierce claimants that the samurai culture is Buddhist. I'm not so sure about it.

There seems to be a similar problem as in Hinduism: according to the varnashrama system, there is the warrior caste, and yet they belong to a religion that is principally non-violent. There's that famous story of Arjuna having a conversation with God, and God encouraging Arjuna to act in line with his duty as a warrior - and kill people.

I don't know if this was added before, but "The Straight Story", by David Lynch, is a wonderful film. Probably the most beautiful film I saw in my life. It's a very simple story (not encrypted like Muholand Drive), yet so beautiful and profound. It has some good lessons, among them the importance of being kind and have a non-conflituous life of friendly love towards others, especialy family. You won't regret watching it.

He turns his mind away from those phenomena, and having done so, inclines his mind to the property of deathlessness: 'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' (Jhana Sutta - Thanissaro Bhikkhu translation)

Modus.Ponens wrote:I don't know if this was added before, but "The Straight Story", by David Lynch, is a wonderful film. Probably the most beautiful film I saw in my life. It's a very simple story (not encrypted like Muholand Drive), yet so beautiful and profound. It has some good lessons, among them the importance of being kind and have a non-conflituous life of friendly love towards others, especialy family. You won't regret watching it.

It is, indeed, a lovely bit of story telling.

.

++++++++++++++++This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

There is freedom from birth, freedom from becoming, freedom from making, freedom from conditioning. If there were not this freedom from birth, freedom from becoming, freedom from making, freedom from conditioning, then escape from that which is birth, becoming, making, conditioning, would not be known here. -- Ud 80

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

http://www.dhammawheel.com/chat/Unfettered at last, a traveling monk, I pass the old Zen barrier. Mine is a traceless stream-and-cloud life, Of these mountains, which shall be my home?Manan (1591-1654)

The Wolf of Wall Street. Theme is the unreality of samsara. The story starts off with Leonardo getting schooled on the unreal nature of Wall Street by Matthew McConaughey. Then it becomes a kaleidoscope of the visions of greed and ignorance. This is a reflection on the suffering of samsara.

Harp of Burma, 1956, directed by Kon Ichikawa. Ichikawa remade this classic in color in 1985 but I haven't seen that version.

The Burmese Harp, Biruma no tategoto, Harp of Burma: at the end of WW2 in Burma, a Japanese soldier, Private Mizushima, who can "pass for a Burmese" and who plays a harp, is tasked by Australian forces to convince a Japanese garrison on a mountain to surrender. If they do not, the Australians will destroy the garrison with artillery fire. Mizushima is unable to convince the garrison that the war is over but Mizushima does not abandon the attempt and is the only survivor of the artillery barrage. Stunned, he begins to make his way to the internment camp in Rangoon where is unit is. However he is unable to get far. A Buddhist monk nurses him back to health, telling him, it doesn't matter who comes and occupies Burma, British, Japanese, Burma is Buddha's country. Mizushima leaves and travels disguised as a monk. Along the way he encounters many dead bodies, mostly soldiers and beings to bury them. Later stymied by a river, the monk again shows up in a boat, gets out, and praises Mizushima. Mizushima finally arrives in Rangoon and is given lodging in a temple where it is commented that he must have undergone very difficult training. His unit in the meantime bought a parrot and trained it to call out to him, as his comrades believe Mizushima is still trying to rejoin the unit. Once in Rangoon, seen as a monk, Mizushima begins living as a monk. There is still the question of whether he will rejoin his unit and reveal himself to his comrades ....

Primarily an antiwar film, but the theme of taking the task of burying the now helpless dead is an act of metta. Mizushima also explicitly engages the task of alleviating the suffering of the world to whatever extent he can.

I just realized that this version is not subtitled in English, which will make his letter and the words in the final scene not understandable:

As I climbed mountains and crossed streams, burying the bodies left in the grasses and streams, my heart was wracked with questions. Why must the world suffer such misery? Why must there be such inexplicable pain? As the days passed, I came to understand. I realized that, in the end, the answers were not for human beings to know, that our work is simply to ease the great suffering of the world. To have the courage to face suffering, senselessness and irrationality without fear, to find the strength to create peace by one's own example. I will undergo whatever training is necessary for this to become my unshakable conviction.